Dallas Mavericks point guard Jose Calderon (8) looks to pass the ball as he is defended by Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke (3) and Utah Jazz power forward Marvin Williams (2) during the first half of play at American Airlines Center in Dallas, on Friday, February 7, 2014. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)

For more than half of the season, soft, fuzzy kittens showed more fight than
the Mavericks did when it came to rebounding.

Now, all of the sudden they are big, nasty tigers clawing for every loose
ball on the glass.

Another strong rebounding night — and they are coming against all sorts of
teams at a rapid rate — set the tone for a runaway 103-81 victory against the
Utah Jazz on Friday night at American Airlines Center.

It was the Mavericks’ fourth consecutive victory, matching their season-best
win streak, and pushed them to nine games over .500 at 30-21. The last time they
were nine up on the break-even mark was when they were 21-12 midway through the
lockout season of 2011-12.

It’s no coincidence that the winning streak has come after the Mavericks had
a team meeting after a 1-2 road trip late last month to make sure everybody knew
the importance of finishing strong before the All-Star break.

Friday wasn’t exactly a landmark victory in any other respect. Utah owns the
worst record in the Western Conference and the Mavericks treated the visitors
accordingly after a sloppy start.

And the night was not without some concern.

Monta Ellis, who led the Mavericks with 22 points, limped gingerly to the
locker room with under three minutes left in the game — with the decision safely
in the Mavericks’control. He was diagnosed with a strained right hamstring and
will have an MRI exam Saturday morning.

“Any time a player walks out early, there is a concern,” coach Rick Carlisle
said. “But we’ll get it checked out and see what’s what.”

Ellis, who said he has not had any hamstring issues in the past, said he
wasn’t worried.

“We’ll see in the morning,” he said. “I always stay positive. We got the win.
I got screws and plates in my ankle. This is nothing. Minor.”

Asked when it happened, Ellis said it occurred late in the game on a fast
break and he felt “leg pain.”

The Mavericks will have to improvise if Ellis ends up missing any games. It
probably means Devin Harris, Vince Carter and perhaps Wayne Ellington and Shane
Larkin will be pressed into more duty.

It put a damper on a night when the Mavericks rolled after an iffy start when
they weren’t playing a lick of defense.

Marvin Williams had 21 of Utah’s first 37 points and zero of their last 44.
What changed?

Well, the Mavericks went to more zone defense, but the biggest thing was
“taking me off of him,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “And then he didn’t get open.”

That self-deprecating approach is what makes Nowitzki such a good teammate.
It also helps that he had 20 points on just nine shots from the field.

What stood out was their continued strong efforts on the glass.

They won the board battle for the third consecutive game and have been
plus-31 in the rebounding department over the last seven games.

“We want to make sure that if we can’t get it, our man doesn’t get it,
either,” said Brandan Wright. “We just want to block out and give ourselves a
chance to get every loose ball.”

Carlisle’s job as coach, of course, is not to get too impressed with
anything.

“At this point, we’re shoring it up,” he said. “We’re doing better, but we
can’t start feeling too good … because it can get you quickly if you start
feeling too good about yourself. But I like the way we played.

“Guys understand the importance of [rebounding]. “If they don’t rebound,
we’re going to get beat pretty much most of the time.”

With four wins in a row and a three-game trip starting in Boston on Sunday,
the Mavericks are beginning to look like a team that has figured things out.

“It feels that way,” Carter said. “We’re clicking on all cylinders on both
sides of the floor. We have slippage sometimes, but everybody’s doing what needs
to be done for the good of the team. Everybody’s focused on making the right
plays.”

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